Tubing drainer



F. ULRICH. TUBING DRAINEH.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I2. 1921.

LASQ, MLU,

Patented Oct. II?, 1922.

Patented @ch l?, 1922.

tisane FIBLYFK ULRICH, 0F HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

TUBING DRAINER.

Application filed ctober 12, 1921. Serial No. 507,353.

T0 all fw kom t may concern,

Be it known that l, F RANK ULRICH, a citizen of the United States7residing at Huntington Beach, in the county of @range and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful rllubing Drainer, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to the operation of oil wells. Oil wells arecommonly provided. with a casing which is left permanently in the wellto prevent caving in of the well. Inside the casing is placed a tubingot smaller diameter than the casing, such tub-- ing being made up of anumber of joints of pipe connected by suitable collars, a pump beingattached to the lower end of such tubing by means of which the well maybe pumped, such pump being operated from the surface of the ground bymeans of a string of pump rods which extends through the tubing.

lt is often necessary to pull the tubing in cases where the pump is notworking properly and when the rods bre-.alt or when the pump sands updue to the entry of tine sand into the pump barrel. ln cases which therodv breaks or the pump sandsup. the lower end of the tubing is closedand as the tubing is withdrawn from the well all the oil in the tubingbeing confined there in is withdrawn with the tubing. Asthe tubing islifted from the well each joint is disconnected from the derrick abovethe surface of the ground and the oil in each joint during` suchoperation gushes out upon the floor thus flooding the derrick andseriously interfering with the work being done. The oil menappropriately refer to such condition as a wet job.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a suitable device ofsimple form and operation to be placed upon the tubing4 by means ofwhich the tubing will automatically drain otf the oil contained thereinso that when the pulling operation is performed no discharge of oil atthe derriclr will take place.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter from the followingspecication and drawings.

Referring to the drawings'which are for illustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a casing showing the tubingtherein with a device embodying a form of my invention mounted thereon.

F ig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1 showing a side elevation of thedevice shown in F 17g. l.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on line 3 3, Fig` 1, and

Fig. 4L is a sectional plan view online 4 4, Fig. i.

11 designates the oil well casing, which casing extends from a point ator near the surface of the well to a point at or near the bottom of thesame, it being understood that the oil enters such ca sing throughperforations in the casing near the bottom or through the open lower endof: the'casing. Banging inside the casing a string of tubing 12. Thatportion of the tubing shown is preferably the joint above the pumpbarrel.

7lJelded to the pump barrel on opposite sides thereof are valve bodies13 having valve plugs 14 which control openings 15 in the respectivevalve bodies, lsuch open-A ings 15 affording communication from theinterior of the tubing to the interior of the casing through openings 16in the tubing. Each'valve plug lll is provided with an operating arm 17which extends through a slot 18 formed in a plunger or valve rod 19,there being one such plunger for each valve arranged on the oppositesides of the tubing.

The plungers 19 are slidably mounted in ears 20 formed on or secured tothe tubing 12, such rods being prevented from disengagement with theears 20 by virtue of the engagement between such rods and the arms 17.

22 designates a cage which consists of an upper collar 23 and a lowercollar 24, such collars being connected by means of friction blades 25,the ends of which are secured by means of suitable bolts 26 to therespective collars 23 and 24:. The friction blades are preferably flatbands made of spring steel and are bent outwardly intermediate theirlengths so that when placed in the casing the intermediate portion 29 ofsuch blades yieldngly engage the inner surface of the casing 11. Theopenings in the collars 23 and 24 are of such a size as to permit a freesliding movement of the tubing 12 therethrough.

rtubing 12, the tubing and various parts carried thereby are loweredinto the casing 11. This is done by adding successive joints of tubingtothe upper end of the tubing as the tubing is placed in the casing.During the passage of the tubing downwardly, the cage assumes ftheposition shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and '2, the tubing being in theposition indicated by the dotted lines shown in Fig. 1, in whichposition the engagement of the lower end of the plungers 19 with theupper face of the collar 24 pushes the cage downwardly in the casing.The plungers during this operation are in their upper position, so thatthe arms 17 ofthe valves are in their upper position, the valves beingclosed., 'so that there is no communication from the interior of thetubing to the interior of the casing.

When it is necessary to remove the tubing, the tubing is pulledupwardly, the cage temporarily remaining in the position shown in thedrawings. The upward movement of the tubing through the casing bringsthe upper ends of the plungers 19 into engageent with the lower face ofthe collar 23 and arrests the movement of such plungers during acontinued upward movement of the tubing. The arms 17 being in engagementwith ithe plungers, such arms are ycaused to move downwardly into thefull line position shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 4, in which position thevalve stems are turned so that the openings 15 in thevalve bodydischarge `the oil from the tubing into the casing thereby draining thetubing of the oil con-A tained therein.

After the valves have been opened, as `just described, a continuedupward movement of the tubing pulls the cage upwardly therewith.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an oil well, a casing; a string of tubing in said casing having anoutlet opening therein; a valve liz-:ed to said tubing for controllingthe outlet opening; a' member frictionally engaging said casing throughwhich said tubing slidably extends; an operating arm on said valve; anda rod operated by said member arranged to operate said arm.

2. In an oil well, a casing; a tubing in said casing, having an outletopening therein; a cage in said casing consisting of upper and lowercollars through which said tubing slidably extends and friction bladessecured to said. collars having their intermediate portions frictionallyengaging said casing; a valve fixed to said tubing for controlling theoutlet opening therein; an operating arm for said valve; and a rodslidably mounted on said tubing having an opening therein to receivesaid valve arm; said rod being arranged to be engaged by the collars onsaid cage to operate said valve.

3. In an oil well, a'casing; a tubing in said casing having outletopenings therein; a cage in said casing through which said tubingslidably extends, said cage frictionally engaging said casing; a valvemounted on said tubing for each outlet opening; an operating arm foreach valve; and a rod for each arm slidably mounted on said tubingengaging its associated operating arm, said rods being arranged to beengaged by said cage.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 6th day of October, 1921.

FRANK ULRICH.

